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Yugoslavia News

25 Jul 2022

USS Whidbey Island Decommissioned

USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41) (Photo: Rachael L. Leslie / U.S. Navy)

Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship namesake, USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41) held a decommissioning ceremony at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Va. on July 22 before its inactivation next month.The ship’s decommissioning ceremony was held on the quay wall, alongside the moored USS Whidbey Island. The ceremony was attended by nine of her previous Commanding Officers and over 50 plankowners. “The last crew of Whidbey Island performed with great dignity and resiliency,” said Cmdr. Matt Phillips, the ship’s final commanding officer.

12 Nov 2021

Serbia Restores Warship that Fired First Shots of World War One

SMS Bodrog on the river Danube in 1914 (Photo: Public Domain)

Serbia has finally recalled to service as a floating museum a warship that fired the first shots that began World War One, following years of lobbying from navy ship enthusiasts who wanted it restored.The SMS Bodrog was one of two Austro-Hungarian heavy gunboats that sailed into the confluence of the rivers Sava and Danube around midnight on July 28, 1914. Its two canons hurled shells at Serbian positions in Belgrade, marking the start of the four-year war in which around 20 million people died.Renamed Sava…

10 Dec 2020

Tito's Restored Former Flagship to Become Hotel and Museum in Croatia

The restored flagship of former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito is being converted into a hotel and a museum devoted to its turbulent history, from banana boat to meeting place for world statesmen.Berthed in Croatia’s Adriatic port of Rijeka, the Galeb (Seagull) will open to the public in its new role next year.The ship was built in 1938 in Italy to transport bananas from Africa. During World War Two, it was used first by the Italian navy and then by the Germans and it was sunk by Allied planes at the end of the war.In communist Yugoslavia, it was retrieved and converted into a yacht used by Tito for his many journeys across the globe.During that time…

15 Oct 2020

Comprehensive Sanctions: Iran, Syria and North Korea

© komi$ar / Adobe Stock

This article will focus on “comprehensive sanctions,” which prohibit most trade between the U.S. and the target country, with a particular focus on three countries currently targeted by comprehensive sanctions: Iran, Syria and North Korea. Similar jurisdictions which are subject to varying levels of comprehensive sanctions, including Cuba, the Crimea region (Russia/Ukraine) and Venezuela (which may be thought of as subject to “quasi-comprehensive” sanctions) will be dealt with an article later in this series.IranHistory of Iran sanctions: The first U.S.

07 Feb 2019

Troubled Uljanik Shipyard Stays Afloat by Restructuring

File Image: CREDIT Uljanik Shipyard

Croatia's troubled shipbuilder Uljanik said on Thursday it had chosen local rival Brodosplit as a strategic partner to restructure its operations.Uljanik, 25 percent owned by the state and with 3,500 employees, has been working to stave off bankruptcy due to liquidity problems that began in 2017. Workers staged strikes twice last year over unpaid wages."Uljanik has chosen Brodosplit as its strategic partner which will have an obligation to devise, in cooperation with Uljanik, a feasible restructuring plan…

17 Jan 2019

Troubled Shipbuilder Uljanik Draws Investor Interest

© lexlero / Adobe Stock

Croatia's largest shipbuilder Uljanik, which is trying to attract investors to stay afloat, extended a due diligence process until late next week after drawing the interest of potential strategic partners.Croatia's Economy Minister Darko Horvat said four potential investors were looking at Uljanik's business data and another company was also interested, but did not elaborate."I expect at least two serious offers for Uljanik at the end of this process which would then prevent its bankruptcy…

22 Oct 2018

Croatian Shipbuilders Strike Again Over Late Salary

© burnel11 / Adobe Stock

Workers at Croatia's largest shipbuilding group Uljanik on Monday held their second strike in less than two months, this time over unpaid salary for September.In late August, the workers downed tools because of uncertainty over payments for July and August. Those two months' salaries were secured after the government reached a deal with a local bank.Uljanik owns two docks, with some 4,000 workers, located in the northern Adriatic cities of Pula and Rijeka. Some 1,500 started a…

31 Aug 2018

Croatian Shipyard Workers to End Strike, Future Uncertain

Photo courtesy of Uljanik

Workers at Croatia's largest shipbuilding group Uljanik, who have been on strike for more than a week, began receiving their delayed July salaries on Friday and are set to return to work on Monday.Union leaders and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, whose government struck a deal with a local bank, confirmed the payments for some 4,500 workers at the docks, located in the northern Adriatic cities of Pula and Rijeka.Last Monday the workers protested in Zagreb demanding the government's help.Despite the funds secured for July and August salaries…

09 Apr 2018

Ferry Vessel Dagestan Completes Modernization

The vessel "Dagestan" with a length of 154.5 and a width of 18.3 meters was built in 1984 in Pula, the former Yugoslavia (currently Croatia). It was decided to repair and upgrade the ferry "Dagestan", withdrawn from operations 5 years ago. Modernization of the ferry, which is one of the unique vessels of its time, was completely executed by the engineering and technical personnel of the Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company at the "Zigh" Ship Repair and Construction Yard. It should be noted that the project of modernization, the first in the history of the Shipping Company, was also developed by the personnel of the Shipping Company. Whole ferry management systems have been modernized. One of the main works is performed in the engine room.

08 Aug 2016

Helen Delich Bentley Dies at 92

Helen Delich Bentley (Image courtesy of the U.S. Congress)

Helen Delich Bentley, a former journalist and a U.S. Republican congresswoman from Maryland who gained global attention by smashing Japanese goods to protest Tokyo's trade policies, died over the weekend at the age of 92, officials said. Bentley upset a longtime Democratic congressman to win a U.S. House of Representatives seat in 1984, a year in which Ronald Reagan's landslide victory in the presidential race helped bring several new faces from the party to Congress. The five-term congresswoman was a staunch advocate for the port of Baltimore and the state's maritime industry.

21 Aug 2014

Signet Tows Aircraft Carrier on Final Voyage

SOLAS Certified, ABS A1, 10,000 BHP, Signet Warhorse III en route to Newport Naval Shipyard to tow USS Saratoga to Brownsville, Texas.

The final voyage of aircraft carrier USS Saratoga begins today. From the Eastern Hemisphere to the Western Hemisphere, the USS Saratoga has made her mark around the globe, and served more than 38 years in the United States Navy. The carrier’s aircraft flew sorties in the Vietnam War, in Operation Desert Shield and over the states of the former Yugoslavia in 1992. Throughout its four decades of service, more than 60,000 sailors served on its decks, with roughly 5,000 at any given time.

07 Jun 2014

Two Killed In Kosovo Power Plant Blast, Supplies Hit

A hydrogen tank exploded at Kosovo's second biggest power plant on Friday, killing two people and injuring 14, officials said. The 40-year-old Kosovo A plant, considered one of the worst polluters in Europe, was shut down following the blast that was heard in the capital, Pristina, some 10 km (6 miles) away. The explosion threatened electricity supplies in a country already plagued by blackouts. Power imports were increased to cover demand. "We have found two bodies," Edmond Nulleshi, a manager at the Kosovo's Energy Corporation (KEK), told Reuters. Local television footage showed soldiers rescuing a worker who had been trapped in the building for more than five hours. An investigation has been launched into the incident.

26 Apr 2011

This Day in U.S. Naval History - April 26

1869 - The Good Conduct Medal was authorized    1921 - U.S. Naval Detachment left Yugoslavia after administering area around Spalato for 2 years to guarantee transfer of area from Austria to new country   1952 - USS Hobson sinks after colliding with USS Wasp; 176 lives lost   (Source: Navy News Service)

22 Nov 2010

This Day in U.S. Coast Guard History – November 22

1906-At the second International Radio Telegraphic Convention, which was held in Berlin, the attendees agreed to adopt the wireless signal "SOS" as the internationally recognized signal for distress at sea. Their thinking was that three dots, three dashes and three dots could not be misinterpreted. 1953-A great boon to ocean navigation for aircraft surface vessels was the completion of four new LORAN stations in the Far East. The stations were built at Mikayo Jima, Ryuku Islands; Bataan and Cantanduanes Islands, Philippines; and Anguar, Palau Island in the Carolinas chain. Now replaced by the more accurate LORAN-C network, these stations on sparsely-populated, remote and typhoon-battered islands.

20 May 2010

This Day in Coast Guard History – May 20, 2010

1882-The lookout of Station No. 10 (Louisville, Kentucky), 9th District, spotted two men and a skiff being swept toward the dam and falls of the Ohio River. He sounded the alarm and "a boat at once shot out from the station, and reached the men in time to save them. They were quite ignorant of rowing . . . and were at the mercy of the flood sweeping towards the dam. 1999- The CGC Bear arrived in Rota, Spain. She was deployed to the Adriatic Sea in support of “Operation Allied Force” and “Operation Noble Anvil”, NATO's military campaign against the forces of the former Republic of Yugoslavia. Bear served in the USS Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group providing surface surveillance and SAR response for the Sea Combat Commander…

26 Apr 2010

This Day in Naval History – April 26

1869 - The Good Conduct Medal was authorized 1921 - U.S. Naval Detachment left Yugoslavia after administering area around Spalato for 2 years to guarantee transfer of area from Austria to new country 1952 - USS Hobson sinks after colliding with USS Wasp; 176 lives lost (Source: Navy News Service)

07 Dec 2001

STCW List of Confirmed Parties Expanded

The List of countries assessed to be properly implementing the revised STCW Convention (STCW 95) has been updated by IMO. The First Extraordinary Session of the Organization's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), meeting on November 27 and 28, received reports from IMO Secretary-General William O'Neil confirming that a further eight Member States had communicated information demonstrating that they were giving "full and complete effect" to the relevant provisions of the Convention. The List of Confirmed Parties now comprises 102 States and one IMO Associate Member. A position on the list entitles other parties to the STCW Convention to accept…

13 Dec 2001

Navibulgar Upgrades Black Sea Ferry

Ro-Ro ferry operation. The destination had been 'out of reach' to Navibulgar, whose two 13,000 DWT rail, truck and car ferries - Geroite na Odessa (Hero of Odessa) and Geroite na Sevastopol - were originally constructed with a single stern door designed to be accessed by shore ramp, which Derince and many other ports in the region do not possess. range of additional port options. companies. components. achieved on-time and on-budget. Navibulgar's second ferry, Geroite na Sevastopol. trucks. passenger berths. former Yugoslavia. and Yugoslavia. Russian 1520mm gauges. company in Bulgaria. Black Sea every year. fleet.

01 Nov 2000

Tanker Not An Environmental Disaster Yet

Environmental disaster has been averted for now but France is taking no risks after a tanker carrying thousands of tons of toxic chemicals sank off the Normandy coast, Reuters reported President Jacques Chirac as saying. Visiting an emergency operations center in Cherbourg, northwestern France, Chirac said information was still being gathered on how best to recover the chemicals that officials said were already leaking from the Italian tanker Ievoli Sun, which sank in the English Channel on Tuesday. "It's escaping in bursts," Cherbourg maritime captain Jean-Francois Choquart said. "It has to be styrene that has escaped from a forward storage tank…

08 Jun 2000

Shipping Company's Losses Total $110M

Ukraine's Danube Shipping Company lost $110 million due to military action in Yugoslavia last year that destroyed bridges and blocked traffic along the Danube, transport minister Leonid Kostyuchenko said. NATO launched air strikes last year on Yugoslavia, which it accused of ethnic cleansing in the province of Kosovo, densely populated by ethnic Albanians. Kostyuchenko said collapsed bridges had blocked 63 Ukrainian ships on upper stretches of the Danube. Due to the disruption of the shipping, Ukraine's Danube ports were now working at just 40 percent of capacity, he said. This is not the first time Ukrainian companies suffer from problems in Yugoslavia.

28 Jul 1999

Oil Producers Left Out of Emergency Spending Bill

U.S. Senate and House negotiators have left out several programs in a nearly $15 billion emergency spending bill that would have helped U.S. oil and natural gas producers. While language was left in the spending measure to delay new royalty valuation rules on crude oil production, lawmakers rejected separate programs to provide emergency loans and other royalty relief to small oil and natural producers. Negotiators also turned down a proposal to allow natural gas producers to forgo paying hundreds of millions of dollars in interest due on refunds to customers. The original intent of the emergency spending bill, which will be voted on by the full Congress and then sent to President Clinton for his approval, was to provide money to fight the war in Yugoslavia. Oil Royalties: Sen.

28 Mar 2000

Hungary Sees Danube Cleared By Summer At Earliest

The debris blocking the Danube shipping route in Yugoslavia could be cleared away by the summer, but more likely not until November, a senior Hungarian foreign ministry official said. The Danube, one of the most heavily used waterways in Europe, has been blocked along a vital stretch in Serbia since NATO destroyed several bridges during its bombing campaign against Yugoslavia last year. This has caused serious losses to the mostly central and eastern European countries using the river. An obstacle hindering the process is that the cleanup of the debris involves the building of a bridge over the river. The U.S. supports the cleanup of the Danube but it does not want to see a bridge to be built in a Serbia ruled by President Slobodan Milosevic.

23 Apr 2007

Decommissioning Ends USS Saipan’s 29 Years of Service

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joseph R. The Navy bid farewell to the amphibious assault ship USS Saipan (LHA 2), April 20 in a decommissioning ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk. During its 29 year career, the ship’s primary mission was to transport Marine Corps forces. However, Saipan was also involved in providing evacuation and disaster relief when needed. “We are here today to honor the history and legacy of this fine ship, but more importantly the people who served on it,” said Saipan Commanding Officer Capt. Richard Fitzpatrick. “The decommissioning signals the end of an era. Saipan was commissioned Oct. 15, 1977, and made the first Mediterranean deployment by an amphibious assault ship in 1980.